Colorado Eagles

LOVELAND — Entering a five-game homestand, the Colorado Eagles were last in the Mountain Division of the ECHL as they stumbled through the first part of the season.

The offense was sputtering, unable to find traction despite a squad full of talented players.

Five games later and all is well. Colorado romped through the five games, outscoring opponents 35-9 as the Eagles went 5-0.

“I thought the team came together,” coach Chris Stewart said of the homestand. “I thought we played some real good hockey at both ends of the ice. It’s a step in the right direction. We’ve still got a long ways to go.”

The Eagles beat San Francisco twice to begin the homestand and then faced the Utah Grizzlies for the final three. Coming into the series with Utah, Colorado trailed them by two points in the Mountain standings.

Now Colorado sits four points clear. On Saturday night, Chad Costello recorded a hat trick. Costello said earlier in the week he really struggles physically when many games come in a short span due to the significant knee injury he suffered last year. But playing in his third game in four nights, Costello shined.

With the three-goal outburst, Costello padded his lead at the top of the ECHL scoring leaders. Costello has 23 points, one ahead of linemate Jack Combs, who is second..

Coming into the three games in Loveland, the Grizzlies had not allowed more than four goals in a game this season. In the three games against Colorado, they allowed in order 10, six and seven. For the three games, the Eagles outscored the Grizzlies 22-6. On Saturday night, Colorado killed 10 of 12 penalties.

“I was happy with the special teams,” Stewart said. “I thought the penalty kill was really strong, the power play was strong. Our defensive zone coverage was much better than it has been.”

Lost in the shuffle of the scoring burst has been goaltending. Kyle Jones has won four straight games, allowing only seven goals. Then he got a rest on Saturday night and new signee Tyler Plante got his first action as an Eagle. The 6-foot-3 goalie was solid throughout, stopping 23 of 25 shots.

“Both goaltenders played extremely well,” Stewart said. “I think Jones has had some of the best hockey I’ve seen him play. You get to look at Plante; I thought he made the game look really easy.”

Colorado now heads on the road to take on an Alaska Aces team that is loaded with four NHL players after signing All-Star Scott Gomez.

Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on Twitter @Kevin_Lytle and friend him on Facebook.